Vibration damping drive assembly for textile calender rolls



March 11, 1969 B. w. GOSSETT VIBRATION DAMPING DRIVE ASSEMBLY FOR TEXTILE CALENDER ROLLS Filed July 1'7, 196'? BRYANT W. GossETT United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drive assembly for calender fiber feed rolls wherein a flexible coupling insulates the fiber, as it passes between'the rolls, from the shock and vibration resulting from shaft misalignment and from sudden speed variations at the source of power.

The invention relates to a drive assembly for calender feed rolls of textile fiber processing machinery such as coilers, carding engines and drawing frames, and more particularly to such an assembly equipped with vibration damping means for protecting the fibers from excessive driving stresses.

It is an object of this invention to provide an assembly of the class described in which means are provided for insulating the fibers from vibrations and shocks resulting from sudden speed variations and from defects in the construction of the machinery.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drive assembly for textile fiber processing machinery comprising a bevelled gear driving unit circumferentially and longitudinally adjustable relative to one of the rotational axes of the latter, in combination with a calender roll feed unit connected to the other rotational axis of the driving unit by means of a torsionally resilient and flexible coupling, to thereby minimize the adverse effects of any misalignment between the units and facilitate installation of the assembly on various types of textile machinery.

Some of the objects of invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a textile coiler embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional detail view taken along line 33 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional detail view through a flexible coupling between the driving and calender roll units and taken along line 44 in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral denotes a pedestal of a conventional textile coiler having mounted thereon a spectacle 11 and a bonnet 12. The bonnet has a tube gear 14 rotatably suspended therefrom by means of bearing 15, said gear having its lower face flush with the lower face of spectacle 11 (FIGURE 2).

The tube gear 14 is driven by a pinion 16 secured upon drive shaft 17 which extends upwardly from the pedestal 10. During normal operation of the coiler, a strand 20 of fibers or sliver is drawn downwardly in a well-known manner between calender feed rolls 21 and 22 of calender roll unit 23, from whence it passes through inclined guide tube 24 and is coiled within a can (not shown) disposed beneath tube gear 14.

3,431,603 Patented Mar. 11, 1969 I Rolls 21 and 22 have shafts 25 and 26 extending horizontally therefrom which, in turn, are rotatably mounted in bearings 27 and 28 respectively. The bearing 27 is integral with a bracket 30 fixedly secured upon the b0nnet 12 by suitable means such as bolts 31, whereas, the

bearing 28 is pivotally mounted as at 32 and, therefore,

swingable toward and away from bearing 27 (FIG- URE 5).

In operative position, the bearing 28 and the asso-v ciated shaft 26 and roll 22 are yieldingly urged toward fixed bearing 27, shaft 25 and roll 21 respectively, by means of a spring 34 (FIGURE 5), the outer end of said spring being confined upon the free end of a latch pin 35 by means of a nut 36 and the inner end of the spring abutting a latch handle 40 slidably mounted upon the pin. Pin 35 is pivotally secured as at 37 to the upper portion of swingable bearing 28. The handle 40 has integral there with a projection 41 adapted to releasably fit within notches 42 in lugs 43 extending upwardly from fixed bearing 27. v

The above-described construction is typical of the con-. ventional textile machines with which the present invention may be adapted.

The novel drive assembly for the calender roll unit 23 according to the invention comprises a bevelled gear unit 45 and a flexible coupling 46 disposed between the units. Coupling 46 is also torsionally resilient and preferably made of a tough flexible plastic in the shape of two integral transversely disposed loops 46a and 46b, each of said loops having a metallic collar 47 fixedly secured therein and provided with a set screw 47a for securing the collar to shaft 25 or the shaft 50 as the case may be (FIGURE 4).

Heretofore, much difliculty has been experienced in properly aligning the conventional calender rolls, corresponding to rolls 21 and 22, with the bevelled gear drivmg elements, corresponding to elements 48, 49 and 50, due to the fact that the calender roll unit was connected to the driving elements by a continuous rigid shaft. As a result, excessive wear and vibration has occurred together with high maintenance cost. Moreover, the rigid connection readily transmits the vibrations and shocks due to sudden speed variations at the driving source to the calender rolls and adversely affects the quality of the sliver or fiber strand 20. The above-mentioned drawbacks are rnmlmized by providing the torsionally resilient and flexible coupling 46 as a vibration and shock damping means, thereby imparting a substantially uniform tension upon sliver strand 20 as it is fed downwardly by the rolls 20 and 21.

Unit 45 is composed of a pair of bevelled gears 48 and 49 fixed on shafts 17 and 50 respectively, said gears being rigidly held in intermeshing engagement by means of two adjacent transverse walls of lubrication housing 51. Housing 51 encloses the gears for rotation in a supply of lubricant therein. Housing 51 also has a round hub 52 extending downwardly through the upper portion of bonnet 12 and coaxially of shaft 17.

In order to render the unit 45 adjustable to fixed positions circumferentially and longitudinally relative to the axis of vertical drive shaft 17, a pair of set screws 53 are provided. Thus, the shafts 25 and 50 may be aligned. Theoretically, this alignment of the units 23 and 45 is possible, but as a practical matter, the alignment is very difiicult to attain with or without the intermediate flexible coupling 46. Where the coupling is omitted and one continuous rigid shaft is substituted for the shafts 25 and 50, according to conventional construction, the rigid housing 51 has heretofore comprised separate bearings which required precise borings at the desired angle in order that the continuous shaft be relieved of lateral stresses and resulting wear.

By providing the flexible coupling 46, exact alignment of shafts 25 and 50 is not required since the coupling will eflicien'tly transmit driving torque and damp vibration and shock where the shafts are misaligned within reasonable limits. The present invention therefore affords adjustment means for approximately aligning the drive unit 45 with the calender roll unit 23, and misalignment compensating means 46 for correcting any adverse eifects of the approximate alignment.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and al' though specific terms are employed these are used in a generic sense and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the following claims:

What is claimed is:

-1. In a coiler for textile slivers, the combination of a bevelled gear driving unit having a drive shaft and a transversely disposed driven shaft, a calender roll unit for feeding said slivers, a third shaft for driving said roll unit, and a torsionally resilient and flexible coupling connected between said second and third shafts for damping the vibrations of said driving unit, whereby said roll unit will impart substantially uniform tension to said sliver.

2. A drive assembly for textile fiber feed rolls comprising a drive shaft, vibration damping means including a flexible coupling drivably connected to at least one of said rolls, an intermeshing bevelled gear =unit connected between said drive shaft and said coupling, a bracket mounted on said shaft for rigidly securing said gears in intermeshing engagement, and means for adjusting said bracket to fixed positions longitudinally of said shaft.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said bracket comprises a lubrication receptacle enclosing said gears.

4. The combination as defined in claim 2 and further comprising means for adjusting said bracket to fixed positions circumferentially about said shaft.

5. The combination as defined in claim 3 and further comprising means for adjusting said bracket longitudinally of and circumferentially about said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,657,435 11/1953 Dudley et 211. 19-159 2,860,495 11/1958 Stark 64-11 2,933,776 ,4/1960 Walter et a1. 19159 2,975,489 3/ 1961 Whitehurst 19159 3,224,224 12/1965 Kudriavetz 64l1 3,332,255 7/1967 Seagreaves et al 6411 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,019,985 2/ 1966 Great Britain.

1,047,081 12/ 1958 Ger-many.

' DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner. 

